The Blue Jackets’ defense, built to be their backbone this season, has been reduced to a patchwork group of mostly prospects and youngsters.

Nine games into the season, injuries are beginning to mount.The latest, and scariest, occurred early in the second period on Saturday in a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Veteran James Wisniewski was skating in pursuit of the puck at full speed when he spun, lost his balance and slammed back-first into the end boards.

After a few minutes facedown on the ice, Wisniewski gingerly left the ice with the help of two teammates.

“To see him go into the boards at that rate of speed and in that manner, it’s really hard to watch,” general manager Scott Howson said. “There was a lot of energy in the building, and the place went perfectly quiet when James went down.”

Wisniewski was resting at home yesterday as the Blue Jackets enjoyed a day off, Howson said. He will be evaluated today. If a concussion is confirmed — Howson said it hadn’t been officially diagnosed and that Wisniewski was mostly sore — he might spend more days at home.

That wouldn’t be a total loss.

Wisniewski’s wife, Nicole, is due to give birth any day now. In fact, trainers have been calling her between periods to make sure Wisniewski is alerted should she go into labor during the middle of a game.

There’s no chance Wisniewski will play on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings, Howson said. The same goes for veteran defensemen Nikita Nikitin and Adrian Aucoin, each of whom is out because of lower-body injuries.

Wisniewski’s injury prompted the Blue Jackets to recall defenseman Nick Holden from minor-league Springfield. Holden, 25, had four goals, 18 assists and a plus-13 rating in 44 games in the American Hockey League.

The Blue Jackets’ blue line has turned decidedly greener. Holden has played in only five NHL games, most recently on Oct. 30, 2010. John Moore, Tim Erixon and David Savard, also in the lineup, are each 22 or younger.

“It’s good that we have depth,” Howson said. “Nobody is going into the lineup that hasn’t played in the NHL. They don’t have a lot of experience, but we’re in a situation now where we’ve got to just muscle through.”

Owner of the belt

The Blue Jackets have an “authentic” World Wrestling Entertainment championship belt in the dressing room, passing it to the top performer after victories.

Goaltender Steve Mason, who had 32 saves against Detroit, was toting it about after the game.

“It’s pretty sharp, isn’t it?” Mason said, retrieving it from his stall to show that the middle decal of the belt spins.

Center Artem Anisimov earned the belt after the season-opening victory at Nashville. Winger Vinny Prospal had it after a victory last week against Dallas.

Slap shot

The Blue Jackets, on their first two-day break from games since the start of the season, will return to practice at 10:30 this morning.

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